Page 42 of Grim’s Delight (The New Protectorate Syndicate #1)
Dahlia sat up a little straighter. Folding her hands in her lap, she took a deep breath before answering, “First on the list is I need to keep the things that make me Dahlia. I can’t just be a pet you keep locked away in your house.
I’m not cut out for the cushy pampered housewife stuff. I need to work.”
Lists, Felix thought, indescribably relieved. She’s giving me a list. I can work with that.
“You could work with me,” he offered immediately.
When Dahlia gave him a shocked look, he explained, “C’mon.
Did you really think I wanted you to stay in the house all day?
That’d be a waste. When I let myself imagine what I really wanted, I always pictured us as partners.
You’ve got a wicked business mind, pet. And selfishly, I’d like to have you doing a job that keeps us together. ”
“You really think I could be in the syndicate?”
Felix snorted. “You’re more vicious than most of the vampires born into it. So yeah, I think you could.”
There would need to be safeguards in place, and it wouldn’t be like she’d be out running guns or doing hits, but the business side of things was safe enough. Dahlia was sharp and ruthless. He had no doubt that once she got the hang of things, she’d be a tougher boss than him.
Looking a little dazed, she said, “I… Okay, I’ll think about it.”
He nudged her shoulder. “What’s next on the list?”
“I need freedom,” she answered immediately. Before he could protest, she clarified, “Not to leave, but to have a life. I want to be able to leave the house. Go shopping. See Cecilia. Actually, that’s a must. I have to see Cecilia.”
Felix blew out a breath. “Pet…”
“That’s non-negotiable,” she stressed, twisting at the waist to meet his gaze. “I have to have a life, Felix. I have to.”
Scraping his claws through his hair, he muttered, “You know what I find most upsetting about that?”
“What?”
“That you thought this whole time that I actually wanted to keep you prisoner. For fuck’s sake, Dahlia — of course not.
This isn’t forever. I wouldn’t do that to you.
I’m not going to make you sit at home all day for the rest of our lives or force you to ask permission every time you want to go to one of your vintage swap meets. ”
“Ugh!” Dahlia threw up her hands. “What— Then why were you talking like?—”
“Because,” he dragged out, pointing to her bitten thigh, “venom takes a while to settle in. It takes way more than one bite for you to become fully saturated with it and officially off-limits to any other vampires. Until then, you’re not safe.
Once it settles, not even Alastair would risk taking you from me because you’d go through the worst kind of withdrawal. ”
“So I’m not going to be locked away in the house like some vampire Stepford wife?”
Cupping her cheeks, he leaned in close to make sure she didn’t miss a single word.
“Pet, you are not a prisoner. You’re my bride.
You’re my whole fuckin’ world. As soon as it’s safe, I want you to run wild and tear United Washington up.
Spend our money. Fuck with the other families.
Break all the speed limits with your new car.
Be vicious and beautiful and so damn smart. All I ask is that you be mine.”
He didn’t think he’d ever be used to Dahlia’s tears. They shined in her eyes, making them seem painfully blue. She curled her fingers around his wrists, holding tight. “You’re not just saying that because you need a blood bride? Any blood bride?”
“No,” he rasped, “I’m not. I’m saying that as the luckiest vampire on this godsforsaken planet. There is no one I’ve ever wanted to share my life with other than you, Dahlia. Anything or anyone else would’ve been nothing but sacrifice. But you— How did I get so fucking lucky? My girl is my bride.”
She nodded, blinking hard. “There’s one more thing on my list.”
Smoothing his thumbs over her cheeks, he said, “Anything.”
“I want to have kids. Not, like, this second, but soon. I want to have kids who grow up in a home where they’re loved and cared for and they don’t feel like they have to run away to survive and…
” She sucked in a deep breath, cutting off the torrent.
“I want them to have the home I always dreamed of when I was a kid, Felix.”
Instead of that sharp pain in his chest, a dull, bone-deep ache settled in. It wasn’t a bad feeling, necessarily, but more like the stretch of an untried muscle.
In a thick voice, he replied, “And this is why we’re perfect for each other, pet. We want all the same things. It just takes us a second to fight it out.”
“So… I get to have a job, I get my freedom, and… a couple of kids soonish,” she summarized, sounding more skeptical than he liked.
Felix dipped his head to press a quick, fierce kiss to her lips. “Yes to all of that. A job running the family business, your freedom as soon as my venom settles, and kids whenever you want them. Anything else?”
For the first time since he brought her home, Felix had the privilege of witnessing a real megawatt smile burst across her face.
Dahlia laid a smacking kiss on his lips before she answered, “Currently, the only other thing I need is a shower. That pergola was not very clean.”
“All right.” Setting her a little bit away from him, Felix stood up from the bed and began to shrug out of his suit jacket. A satisfied smile kicked up the corner of his mouth as Dahlia went very still, her wide eyes tracking his progress as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
“What are you doing?” she breathed.
He slowly peeled his shirt over his shoulders before he moved onto his belt. Whipping it through the loops, he replied, “You need a shower, and your man is nothing if not accommodating.”